It’s still early in the nomination process, and I still have a lot of films to watch, but it’s difficult for me to believe that We Shall Remain will not be at the top of my list (As of now, it’s in a first place tie with Poisoned Waters).

At first, I was a little put off by the heavy use of reenactments. We Shall Remain tells significant parts of the story of the Native American’s experience. Told in chronological order, We Shall Remain opens with the arrival of the English settlers. In the absence of archival visual materials, We Shall Remain relies on expert interviews, narration and reenactment. The latter of which makes it seem more like a dramatic feature than a documentary. But as the episodes move through the history, it relies less on reenactment and more on archival footage and builds strength as an authoritative documentary.

We Shall Remain accomplishes what only the best history documentaries can: it makes these stories exciting and emotionally engaging. Beginning with the arrival of European settlers and ending with a dramatic stand-off that took place between residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation and authorities in 1973, We Shall Remain reveals a surprising history. Despite being nearly 6 hours long, it does not try to be all-encompassing but instead focuses each of its five chapters on important episodes of Native American history. This choice serves the documentary well in that it provides great depth into each topic. This depth is especially important when dealing with some famous Native Americans (such as Geronimo and Tecumseh) because it is able to separate fact from legend. The most powerful episode is the third one which focuses on the forced relocation of the Cherokee.